Bomb sight and bomb-releasing device



Oct. l5, 1946. A. E. BARILI y BOMB SIGHT AND BOMB-RELEASING DEVICE FiledMay 22, 1942 2 SheecS-Sheei'I l INVENTOR. Arw'faril @4W/LM A Tram/.ex

l5, 1946. A; E. BARILI 2,409,259v

BOMB SIGHT AND BOMB-RELEASING DEVICE Filed May 22. 1942 `2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENI'OR:

A T Tom/Ex Patented Oct. 15, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOMB SIGHT`AND BOlVIB-RELEASING DEVICE Arthur E. Barili, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application May 22, 1942, Serial No. 444,047

6 Claims. (Cl. 89-1.5)

This invention relates to bomb sights and bomb-releasing devices forbombing airplanes, and the general object of the invention is to providean improved bomb sight and bomb-releasing device, by means of which anobject to be bombed may be sighted and a bomb automatically andinstantly released and dropped from a bombing plane with greataccuracy'upon said object, when the plane is brought by its pilot intoits exact position for bombing said object.

A more particular object is to provide a bomb sight and bomb-releasingdeviceof the character stated which is actuated by'an electric eye.

Other objects and advantages willappear hereinafter. The invention isillustrated in the annexed drawings, which form a part of thisspecification and in which:

Fig. l is a View partly in longitudinal section and partly in sideelevation of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the ground-track indicator of. my invention.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the trajectory indicator ofmy invention taken on line 3--3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a cross section of the sight taken on line 4 4 of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a diagram of one-bomb-releasing circuit.

Fig. 6 isa diagram of another bomb-releasing circuit, actuated byelectric'eyes.

Fig. 7 is a face view of a bomb-trajectory indicator used in the circuitshown in Fig. 6.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in which correspondingparts are `designated by the same reference numerals in allof thefigures, my bomb sight includes generally a ground-track indicator I, abomb-trajectory indicator 2, a tubular sight 3, and means 4 forautomatically releasing a bomb 5 from a bomb rack 6 mounted in asuitable part of an airplane'l.

The ground-track indicator I includes a base plate 8 formed with abearing 9; a side drift correction scale I S located onthe face of saidplate near the upper edge thereof; a tubular shaft II with its forwardend portion journaled in said bearing 9.; a disc dial IZ'turnablymounted on said base plate against the face'thereof, and turnably fittedon said tubular shaft; a thumb screw I3 for adiustably securing saiddial on said plate; and a pointer I4 secured on said tubular shaft IIfor pointing to a groundftrack scale I5 on the upper edge portion oflsaiddial I 2 opposite said side drift correction scale Ill. The dial I2ls-turnably mounted on the plateA 8 byxneans of a precisionV bearing I6,formed by a' recess bearing I1 in the face of said plate and a journalI8 on the adjacent side of said dial, which journal is fitted in saidrecess'bearing. The pointer I 4 is secured on the tubular shaft l Iadjacent the face of the dial I2 by set screw I9 threaded in the hub 2liof said pointer and engaging said tubular shaft, which hub is fitted onsaid shaft. A nutZI is threaded on the forward end portion of thetubular shaft Il, and a washer 22 is fitted on said end portion of saidshaft between said nut and the forward end of the plate bearing 9,whereby said tubular shaft II, pointer I4 and dial I2 are adjustablyheld in position, with the pointer hub 20 engaging the face of the dial'I2 and holding the dial journal I8 in the recess bearing" I I in theplate I. A lock nut 23is also threaded on the forward end portion of thetubular shaft Il forwardly of nutZlI7 for engaging and locking said nut2| in position on said tubular shaft.

The thumb screw I3 extends through a concentric slot 24m the dial I2 andis threaded in the plate 3, so that the head of said thumb screw may betightened against said dial for securing said dial in adjusted positionsto which it may be turned on its axis. The ground track indicator I ismounted on the instrument panel 25 of an airplaneby screws 26, driventhrough the base plate 8, at the corners thereof, respectively, intosaid panel, which plate is thereby secured on said panel with itsbearing 9 extending forwardly therefrom through an opening 2l in saidpanel.

The bomb-trajectory indicator 2 includes an arcuate base plate 39 with abomb-trajectory correction scale 3l on its face at its upper edge; adisc dial 32 with a bomb-trajectory scale 33 on its face at its upperedge; and a pointer 34 which points to said bomb-trajectory scale. 'I'hebase plate 35 is formed with a rearwardly extending hub 35 provided witha diametrical bore 36 which'receives the rear end of the tubular shaftII, and a set screw 31 isthreaded in said hub in engagement with saidshaft II, whereby the bomb-trajectory indicator 2 is secured on the rearend of said tubular shaft. From one side of a sight clamp 38, in whichthe tubular sight 3 is clamped, projects a stud shaft 39, which eX-tends axially through the base plate hub 35 and diametrically throughthe tubular shaft Il, and through the base plate 30, and said stud shaftis journaled in said hub, forming a pivot on which said sight clamp 38tubular sight 3 may be turned to direct the sight upon an object to bebombed. The dial 32 is turnably Vfitted on the outer end portion of saidstud shaft '39 and is turnably mounted on the face of the base plate 38by means of a precision bearing 40 formed by a recess hearing 4| in theface of said base plate, and a journal 42 on the rear of said dial,which journal is iitted in said recess bearing.

The dial 32 is adjustably secured against turning by a thumb screw 43,which extends through' a concentric arcuate slot 44 in said dial and isVthreaded in the base plate 38, so that the head of said thumb screw maybe tightened against said dial upon turning the thumb screw. The pointer34 is secured on the outer end of the stud shaft 39 by means of a setscrew 45 threaded in the pointer hub 46 and engaging said stud shaft, onwhich stud shaft said hub is fitted, with the inner end of said hubadjacent the face of the dial 32, and the side of the clamp 38, fromwhich the stud shaft 39 extends, adjacent the end of the hub 35 of thebase plate 30, whereby the parts of the trajectory indicator 2 and thesight clamp 38 are held together in assembled relation, with the tubularsight 3 clamped in operative position in said sight clamp. Said sightclamp 38 is in the form of a split sleeve 41, from one side of whichprojects the stud shaft 39, while its opposite side is splitlongitudinally, there being a pair of ears 48 outstanding from the splitside of said sleeve at the edges, respectively, of the split in thesleeve, and a thumb screw 49 is extended through one of said ears withits head engaging said ear, and the screw threaded in said other ear,whereby the clamp sleeve 41 is clamped around the tubular sight 3.

The automatic bomb-releasing means 4 may comprise a cartridge 50operatively mounted in ythe bomb rack 6, and an electric .cartridge ringcircuit which is automatically closed, in the manner hereinafterdescribed, by the groundtrack indicator and the trajectory indicator 2,when said indicators indicate the bombing posirtion of a plane on whichmy invention is mounted. Said cartridge ring circuit 5I includes agenerator 52, a ground-track indicator switch 53, a bomb-trajectoryindicator switch 54, and a ring plug 55 extending into said cartridge.Said ground-track indicator switch 53 comprises a pair of stud terminalcontacts 56 and 51 secured at one end in the lower part of the dial I2,in insulation bushings 58 and a movable contact 59 secured on the lowerend of a spring arm 68 which is riveted at its upper end to a flange 6Idepending 'from the hub 28 of the pointer I4. The stud terminal contacts56 and 51 extend from the face of the dial I2 forwardly through saiddial and their bushings 58 and through openings 62 and 63 in Ithe plate8 and instrument panel 25, respectively, and clamp nuts 64 are threadedon the reduced forward ends of said stud terminal contacts forelectrically connecting wires 66 and 61 of the cartridge ring circuit 5Ito said contacts 56 and 51, respectively. Said trajectory indicatorswitch 54 comprises a pair of stud terminal contacts 68 and 69, securedin Ithe lower part of the dial 32 in insulation-bushings 10, and amovable contact 1I secured on the lower end of a spring arm 12, which isriveted at its upper end to a flange 13 depending from the hub 46 of thepointer 34. The stud terminal contacts 68 and 65 extend from the face ofthe dial 32 rearwardly through said dial and their insulation bushings10, and clamp nuts 14 are threaded on the rear ends of said contacts forelectrically connecting wires and 16 of the cartridge'ring circuit 5|,to said contacts, respectively, between said nuts and the bushings 18.

The wire 66 of the cartridge firing circuit 5| leads from one pole ofthe generator 52 to the terminal contact 56 of switch 53, while the wire61 leads from the switch contact 51 to one terminal of the cartridgeignition plug 55. The wire 15 of the circuit 5| leads from the otherpole of the generator 52 to the terminal contact 68 of switch 54, whilethe wire 16 leads from thel switch contact 68 to the other terminal ofthe cartridge ignition plug'55.

The bomb rack 6 may be of any suitable form, such as illustrated in Fig.5 of the drawings, in which the rack comprises a pair of verticallydisposed levers 11 and 18, Ipivoted at 19 and 80, respectively, tobrackets 8| and 82, respectively, secured to the body 83 of an airplane1 equipped with my invention, the lower end portions 11 and 18 of saidlevers, respectively, being curved inwardly toward each other andforming a seat 86 upon which the bomb 5 rests and is supported until itis dropped through an opening 81 below in the bottom of said fuselage,upon swinging said levers 11 and 18 on their pivots until their lowerends are spread apart suiciently to allow the bomb to drop therebetween.A cartridge holder 88 is secured on the inner side of the rack lever 11at lthe upper end of said lever for receiving one end of a cartridge 56and holding said cartridge with its other end engaging the inner side ofthe rack lever 18 near the upper end of said lever, whereby the racklevers 11 and 18 are held Acocked with their upper ends spaced apart andtheir lower curved ends held together, forming the seat 86 supportingthe bomb 5.

My invention contemplates more than one bomb rack 6 and automatic bombreleasing means 4 for dropping more than one bomb 5, and accordinglyadditional pairs of switch contacts 68 and 69 are mounted progressivelyin the dial 32 of the bomb-trajectory indicator 2 at the right of therst described contacts 68 and 69 of the switch 54 of said indicator,which additional switch contacts may be connected to .the leads 15 and16 of the cartridge explosion circuits 5|, respectively, of suchadditional automatic bomb releasing means (not shown).

The operation of my invention is as follows:

The ground-track indicator is adjusted to indicate the side drift of theairplane, as determined by a calculating machine (not shown), upon.turning the dial I2 to the right or to the left, until its scale I5registers properly with the correction scale I0, and said dial is thensecured in such adjusted position by tightening the thumb screw I3against said dial. The bomb-trajectory indicator 2 is adjusted toindicate the trajectory of the bomb 5 from a predetermined altitude at a.predetermined speed of the plane, as determined by said calculatingmachine, upon turning the dial 32 to the right or to the left until itsscale 33 registers properly with the correction scale 3 I, and said dialis then secured in its adjusted position by tightening the thumb screw43 against said dial. The bombardier, looking through the tubular sight3, directs said sight upon thev object 'to lne-bombed, and in doing soturns the tubular shaft Il, in its bearing 9, and the pointer I4 overthe dial I2 with relation to the dial scale I5 of the ground-trackindicator I and turns the stud .shaft 39, in its bearing in the hub 35,and the vpointer 34 over the face of the dial 32 with relation to thedial scale 33, whereby the groundtrack indicator I indicates theposition of .the plane off its ground-track course toward the object tobe bombed, and the bomb-trajectory inidicator 2 indicates the positionof the plane at the rearof its bombingpo'sition for said object. Thepilot, being notied by the bombardier that the sight is directed uponthe target and reading said indicators I and 2, directs the plane alongits ground track toward its bombing position, and when said position isreached the pointer i4 `points to zero on the scale l5 of the groundtrack indicator I and the contact 59 of the switch 53 of saidindicator'engages the contacts 56 and V5'| of said switch and .closessaid switch, while the pointer 39 points to zero on the scale 33 of thebomb-trajectory indicator 2 .and the contact 11| of the switch 54 ofsaid indicator engages the contacts 68 and 69 of said switch and closessaid switch and the-cartridge iiring circuit 5 l, whereupon thecartridge 50 in said circuit is fired and exploded and the weight of.the bomb 5 spreads apart the lower ends of theracklevers 'Il and '1.8,Which swing on their pivots, and the bomb 5 drops between the lower endsof said levers through the opening 8l in the bottom of the plane ontothe object to be bombed.

Immediately after said automatic bomb releasing means l is actuated andsaid bomb 5 is dropped as above described, the bombardier may swing thetubular sight 3 and swing the arm 12 of the trajectory-indicator switch54, so that the contact H on said arm will progressively engage therespective pairs of contacts 53 and 69 at the right of said rst pair ofcontacts 93 and 59, to close additional cartridge explosion circuits 5|,respectively, to actuate additional automatic bomb releasing means it,respectively, to drop additional bombs 5.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings is illustrated a bombreleasing circuit 90, inwhich an electric eye9| is substituted for the ground track switch 53,and an electric eye 92 is substituted for the bombtrajectory switch-Stofthe cartridge firing circuit 5|. The electric eye 91| comprises la lightsource 93 and a photoelectric relay 99 mounted on a supporting plate 95suspended by an arm 95 from the dial l2 of the ground-track indicatorsaid dial being provided with an opening 9T through which the lightsource 93 projects its light beam '99 onto said photoelectric relay 94,and there lbeing a shutter 99 depending from the hub 20 ofthe pointer Mof said ground-track indicator which shutter covers said light opening9'! when said pointer I4 points torzero on the dial groundtrack Yscalel5. The electric eye 92 comprises a light source |99 and a photoelectricrelay |0| mounted on a supporting plate |82 suspended by arms 03 fromthe'dialv 32 of thebomb-trajectory indicator 2, said' dial beingprovided with an opening |04 through which the light source |90 projectsits light beam |95 onto the photoelectric relay lill, and there being ashutter |09 depending from the hub 95 of the pointer 3'4 of saidbomb-trajectory indicator 2, which shutter covers said light opening |04when said'pointer 94 points to Zero on the bomb-trajectory scale 39 onsaid dial 3'2. As shown in Fig. 7 a plurality of light openings |04-rnay -be located in the dial 32 and a plurality of electric eyes 952controlling a plurality of circuits 90, respectively, may be mounted onthe plate |92 for projecting their beams |05, respectively, through saidlight openings |04, until said beams are interrupted successively by theshutter |96 when swung over said openings. The circuit 99 is energizedby a battery |01. From one pole of said battery extend leads |08, |09and H9; the lead |98 extending to one terminal of the photoelectricrelay 94 of the electric eye 9|; the lead |09 extending to one terminalof the y prevent lexplosion of the cartridge 59.

light-source 93fof `said electric eye; and theflead IIB extending to oneterminal of the light source |09. YFrom the other terminal of saidphotoelectric relay 94 a lead extends to one terminal of the spark plug55 of the cartridge 50, which holds the bomb rack 6 in position holdingthe bomb 5 as hereinbefore described. From the other terminal of saidlight source 93 extends a lead H2 to the other pole of said battery |91.From said other pole of saidv battery also extend leads I3 and H4, thelead H3 extending to the other terminal of the light source |09, and thelead ||4 extending to one terminal of the photoelectric relay |i| of theelectric eye 92, and from the other terminal of said photoelectric relayextends a lead ||5 to the other terminal ofthe spark plug 55 ofthecartridge 50.

The operation of the bomb-releasing circuit is as follows:

The light-beam 980i electric eye 9| is produced by electric currentpassing fromY battery |01 through lead |99, light source 93' and lead|12 back to said battery, while the light beam |05 of electric eye 92 isproduced by electric current passing from battery |91 through lead H0,light source t9 and lead ||3 back to said battery.

When the pointers |13 and 39 of the ground- .trackv indicator and thebomb-trajectory indicator 2, respectively, point to graduations ateither side of zero on the scales l5 and 33, of said indicators,respectively, the shutters 99 and |06 uncover the light openings 97 and|94 in the dials l2 and V92 of saidindicators, respectively, andthelight source 93 of the electric eye 9| projects its beam of light 98through said light opening 97 onto the photoelectric relay 94, while thelight source |00 of the-electric eye 92 projects its beam |05 throughsaid light opening |04 in dial 32 onto the photoelectric relay lill, sothat each of said relaysv breaks the bomb-releasing circuit 90 and Ifonly the light beam 98 of electric eye 9| should be interrupted byshutter 99, upon the pointer i4 pointing to zero on theV scale |5 ofground track indicator l, the bomb-releasing circuit 90 would be onlypartly closed by the relay 94. because the relay |01, with the lightbeam |95 still projecting thereupon, would still maintain said circuit90 open, and the cartridge 59 would not be exploded. If only the lightbeam |05 should be interrupted by the shutter |06, upon the pointer 3Gpointing vto zero on the scale 93 of the bomb-trajectory indicator 2,the bomb-releasing circuit 99 would be only partly closed by the relaybecause the relay 95, with the light beam 98 still projecting thereupon,would still maintain said circuit 90 open, and the vcartridge 59 wouldnot be exploded.

When the bombing plane is brought to it's bombing position, theground-track indicator l indicates zero by its pointer |-4 pointing toits scale I5, and its'shutter 99 covers the light open'- in'g 91' indial l2 and interrupts the light beam 98- of electric eye 9 I, whereuponthe photoele'ctric relay 99 partly closes the bomb-releasing circuit 90.while the bom'b-traiectory indicator 2 also indicates zero by itspointer 34 pointing to zero 'onits scale 33; and its shutter |99 coversthe light ceening mein dial 32 and interrunts the light beam mofelectriceyeilI-i, whereupon the photoelectric relay lill completely closes thebombreleasing circuit 99, and electric current passes from battery |91through lead |08, photoelectric relay 94, lead spark plug 55 ofcartridge 50, lead H5, photoelectric relay ||J| and lead |||I back tobattery, whereupon said cartridge is exploded, and the bomb rack treleases the bomb which is dropped upon the target as hei'einbeforedescribed.

When the pointer 34 points to Zero and the shutter |05 covers the rstopening 994, as shown in Fig. '7, and interrupts the light beam |05 ofthe rst electric eye 92 and closes the iirst circuit 90 and releases therst bomb 5 from its rack the bombardier may swing the sight 3 to causethe shutter |05 to be swung to cover the remaining light openings |04successively, to interrupt the light beams IE5 of the remaining electriceyes 92, successively, and release the remaining bombs 5 from theirracks 6, successively, thus releasing a plurality of bombs in rapidsuccession when the plane reaches its exact bombing position.

I claim:

1. A bomb sight as disclosed, comprising a sight, a ground trackindicator actuated by said sight for indicating the position of theplane with relation to its ground track leading to a target, abomb-trajectory indicator actuated by said sight for indicating theposition of the plane with relation to its bomb releasing position, abombreleasing circuit including two switches, and means actuated by saidindicators, respectively, for closing said switches when both of saidindicators indicate Zero. y

2. A bomb sight as disclosed, including ground track indicatorcomprising a ground-track dial with a ground-track scale thereon, and agroundtrack pointer for pointing to said ground-track scale to indicatethe position of the plane with relation to its ground track leading to atarget; a bomb-trajectory indicator comprising a bombtrajectory dialwith a bomb-trajectory scale thereon, and a bomb-trajectory pointer forpointing to said bomb-trajectory scale to indicate the position of theplane with relation to its bombreleasing position; a sight turnablymounted on two horizontal axes to be turned endwise either transverselyor longitudinally of the plane or both transversely and vlongitudinallyat the same time; i

means whereby said ground-track pointer is turned with relation to saidground-track scale when said sight is turned endwise transversely of theplane and whereby said bomb trajectory pointer is turned with relationto said bombf.

trajectory scale, when said sight is turned endwise longitudinally ofthe plane, to direct said 'sight upon a target; and means forautomatically releasing a bomb from the plane when the plane reaches itsbomb-releasing position and said;v

ground-track pointer points to zero on said ground-track scale, and saidbomb-trajectory pointer points to zero on said bomb-trajectory scale.

3. A bomb sight as disclosed, including a ground-track indicatorcomprising a turnable ground-track dial with a ground track scalethereon, a ground-track correction scale with ,which said ground-trackdial scale may be read and with relation to which said ground-trackscale may be adjusted upon turning said dial, and a pointer for pointingto said ground track vscale to indicate the position of the plane withrelation to its ground track leading to a target; a bomb-trajectoryindicator comprising a turnable bomb-trajectory dial'with a bombtrajectory scale thereon, a lbomb-trajectory correction scale with whichsaid bomb-trajectory dial scale may be read and with relation toy whichsaid bombtrajectory dial scale may be adjusted upon turning said dial,and a pointer for pointing to said bomb-trajectory scale to indicate theposition of the plane with relation to its bomb-releasing position; asight mounted to be turned endwise transversely and longitudinally ofthe plane, means whereby said ground-track indicator pointer is turnedwith relation to said groundtrack dial scale, when said sight is turnedendwise transversely of the plane, and whereby said bomb-trajectoryindicator pointer is turned with relation to said bomb-trajectory dialscale, when said sight is turned longitudinally of the plane, to directsaid sight upon the target.

4. A bomb sight and bomb-releasing device ,including a sight, aground-track indicator, a bomb-trajectory indicator, a bomb rack, and areleasing circuit for actuating said bomb rack to release a fbombtherefrom, said ground-track indicator comprising a dial with aground-track scale thereon, a turnably-mounted shaft, and a pointersecured on said shaft and pointing to said ground-track scale, saidbomb-trajectory indicator` comprising a dial with a bomb-trajectoryscale thereon, which dial is secured on said shaft, a secondturnably-mounted shaft extending transversely through said first shaft,on which second shaft said sight is secured to be turned endwise as saidsecond shaft is turned in its bearing, and a pointer secured on saidsecond shaft and pointing to said bomb-trajectory scale, and saidreleasing circuit including two controlling switches constructed andarranged to be closed by said pointers of said ground-track indicatorand said bomb-trajectory indicator, respectively, when said pointerspoint to Zero on said ground-track scale and said bomb-trajectory scaleat the same time.

5. A bomb sight and bomb-releasing device including a sight, aground-track indicator, a bombtrajectory indicator, a bomb rack, and areleasing circuit for actuating said bomb rack to release a bombtherefrom, means for mounting said sight for actuating said indicators,respectively, when said sight is turned endwise in different planes,respectively, and said releasing circuit including two controllingswitches constructed and arranged to be closed by said indicators,respectively, when said indicators indicate Zero at the same time.

6. A bomb sight as disclosed comprising a sight, a ground-trackindicator actuated by said sight for indicating the position of theplane with relation to its ground track leading to a target, abomb-trajectory indicator actuated by said sight for indicating theposition of the plane with relation to its bomb-releasing position,bomb-holding means, an electrical releasing circuit for saidbomb-holding means including two electric eyes, and means forinterrupting the light beams of both of said electric eyes for closingsaid bombreleasing circuit, when the plane reaches its bombing positionand both said ground-track indicator and said bomb-trajectory indicatezero.

ARTHUR E. BARIL'I.

